UVa's Boy Wonder

Someone should send this article to those 'scholarship' administrators in Singapore. You know, make their scholars complete their undergraduate degrees in one year or less.

Probably with a slogan like: "If Bahn can do it, so can you!"

U-Va.'s One-Year Wonder
Teen Graduates Early, With a Double Major

By Susan Kinzie
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page A01

And you thought your kid was smart.

David Banh, an 18-year-old from Annandale, just graduated from the University of Virginia in one year. With a double major.

His college education, almost entirely covered by a patchwork of scholarships, cost him about $200. And he sold back textbooks for more than that. Now he's starting graduate study at U-Va. with a research grant.

So at this point, he's technically running a profit.

He's upending two trends: Most students take longer to graduate than you might think -- about two-thirds of freshmen at four-year colleges in Virginia manage to finish within six years. And tuition gets more expensive every year.

He was helped by the fact that U-Va., as a public school, costs a lot less than most private colleges. And that the university accepted many of his Advanced Placement credits from high school; many of the most selective private schools wouldn't. As it was, he doubled up on course credits and took more physics over the summer to finish his second major.

Read the rest here.